For men, general health advice isn’t guaranteed to work at every age and stage of life. Things change as we get older. Sexual stamina can wane and muscle-building abilities invariably decline. At or around our 40s testosterone levels take a dive, and certain life habits that worked before gradually become less effective.
Moreover, whether they’re general or needs-specific, not all men respond well to health directives. Many of us bristle when we’re told what to do, and we often take the path least travelled until the right one is the only way left to go.
Although outside perspectives on our health can be off-putting, they can be especially helpful as we grow older. With the right help, you can stay on top of the changes that life throws your way whether they include a fast-changing metabolism, haywire emotions, or elevated blood pressure. Following are five simple rules that every healthy man should follow.
1. Schedule An Appointment With Your Doctor
Men are far less likely to see their doctors on a regular basis than women. Unless they absolutely need to, many men find these visits embarrassing, emasculating, or downright scary.
If you have a suspected health issue that you aren’t ready to confront head-on, this is a trip that you’d probably love to put off for as long as possible. However, nothing in life is more important than regular, preventative care. After all, you won’t be around to enjoy life if you aren’t taking good care of yourself.
There’s also the fact that you now have access to options in telehealth. With telehealth, you can discuss your health concerns from home, receive diagnoses, and even get testosterone treatment online. These video sessions are private, convenient, and far less off-putting than the typical hospital visit.
2. Improve Your Diet
Stress management is great for lowering cortisol levels and fighting the fast-growing layer of belly fat that many men develop as they near middle age. HIIT workouts can help to this end as well, but it’s also important to consider what you’re eating and whether your current diet is going to create the type of body you want.
If you want to lose weight, don’t make the all too common mistake of depriving yourself at random. Instead, work with a nutritionist or physician to find out how many carbs you should be eating, how much protein you need, and how many calories and fats you should consume each day.
Plan your meals in advance and start eating at home more often. When your hormone levels change, you can’t make fast food a regular staple and not pay for it. Rather than focusing on dieting, consider yourself making reasonable, sustainable lifestyle changes by increasing your protein intake instead of high carbs. Although shedding pounds becomes more challenging as we get older, if you create a solid plan and stick with it, you’re sure to see impressive results over time.
3. Get More Sleep
Your needs change as you get older. You may find that you need fewer calories to meet your energy requirements than you did in your 20s or 30s, but sleep isn’t something that you should be getting less of.
Sleep is an incredibly powerful tool for ensuring mood balance and keeping your mind sharp. Don’t continue sacrificing good sleep for nights out on the town, extra work in the office, or miscellaneous household chores. Not only will an extra hour of sleep keep your mind clear and your moods in check, but it can also go a long way towards staving off serious health issues such as hypertension and heart disease.
Getting more sleep and taking natural testosterone supplements can be especially beneficial if your testosterone levels are low. You’ll have more energy for everything in life. You’ll also have a bit more stamina when it comes to being intimate with your partner.
4. Practice Better Stress Management
Diligent stress management is absolutely essential for men at every age. Men are less prone to talking about their feelings than women and thus, they often lack this important outlet. You can alleviate much of your stress by simply committing to a healthier lifestyle.
Sleeping more, working out, and making a concerted effort to manage your body weight all are important changes to this end, but you should also find a few proactive ways to target your stress head-on.
One of the best strategies for stress relief is adopting a better system of organization. Organize your tasks according to priority and take care of urgent matters first. If you have problems that constantly gnaw at you, take some time to look for feasible solutions.
When there are troublesome issues that you don’t have the power to change or control, put them out of your mind by taking a long walk, meditating, deep breathing, or doing yoga. Learning how to manage your stress will improve both your physical and your mental health.
5. Boost Your Metabolism With HIIT Workouts
Although you’ve probably heard that you should exercise more, this generic tip isn’t really streamlined to suit the unique needs of guys with age-related hormone decreases. HIIT or high-intensity interval training is best in-line with the fitness goals of the average male, and it’s absolutely ideal for men with waning testosterone production.
Think increased confidence, greater endurance, better muscle retention, and improved muscle mass. With a slower metabolism, putting on new muscle with HIIT is also a great way to boost your natural fat-burning abilities.
HIIT workouts are short, intense, and capable of producing noticeable changes within a nominal amount of time. They’re also great for naturally raising testosterone levels from once low testosterone levels. Best of all, given that HIIT doesn’t take a lot of time, you can seamlessly insert it into your busy schedule.
To Sum Up
Like most guys, being told what to do sends you in the other direction, these five rules should be pretty easy to accept. They’re simple and they don’t take a lot of effort to implement. More importantly, they’ll make living a robust and truly enjoyable life possible at every age.